Ukraine-Russia war latest: North Korea sees ‘hundreds’ of casualties as Kyiv claims killing of Putin’s general

NewsWorldEuropeNorth Korean troops are suffering a high rate of losses because they are not battle-hardened, US official suggests

Defense expert warns of major Russian retaliation after general’s death in Moscow

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North Korea has suffered “several hundred” casualties while fighting alongside Russian forces against Ukraine in the Kursk border region, a senior US military official said, a much higher toll than one given by Kyiv earlier this week.

“Several hundred casualties is our latest estimate that the DPRK has suffered,” the official said on condition of anonymity. This “would include everything from… light wounds up to being KIA (killed in action)”, the official said, with soldiers of “all ranks” among the casualties.

The North Korean forces don’t appear to be battle-hardened, the official said, suggesting this would in part explain the high rate of casualties.

Between 10,000 and 12,000 North Korean troops have been deployed by Russia as “cannon fodder”, president Volodymyr Zelensky has said.

This comes after Ukraine claimed responsibility for the killing of senior Russian lieutenant general Igor Kirillov, who was in charge of Russia’s nuclear protection forces, in a Moscow bombing.

Russia has threatened the Ukrainian leadership with imminent revenge for what it described as a “cowardly and despicable strike”.

Starmer reveals Brexit reset plans for new EU defence pact with Ukraine warningSir Keir Starmer has for the first time lifted the lid on his Brexit reset plans for a new defence pact with the EU.

It came as the prime minister issued a rallying call to the European Union for closer defence cooperation in an exclusive interview with The Independent.

As Sir Keir prepares for a Donald Trump presidency with the potential withdrawal of US support from Ukraine and Europe, he shared his vision for coordination across funding, training and the use of British troops.

Sitting down with The Independent in Estonia, the prime minister said the UK must work “as effectively as we can with our partners” to bolster Ukraine’s position amid an increasingly volatile global landscape and heightened tensions with Russia.

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 06:25

Why does Russia want to capture strategic Ukrainian city Pokrovsk?Russian forces are around 3km (1.9 miles) to the south of the strategically important eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, open source maps published by Russian and Ukrainian war bloggers show.

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Ukraine’s top commander, has said his troops in and around Pokrovsk have prepared for the approaching Russians by repeatedly strengthening their defensive positions and he has spoken of sending new reserves, ammunition and equipment to bolster the defenders.

But why does Russia want to capture Pokrovsk?

Moscow says it has annexed Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region and sees taking control of Pokrovsk as an important stepping stone to incorporating the entire region into Russia. Kyiv and the West reject Russia’s territorial claims as illegal and accuse Moscow of prosecuting a war of colonial conquest.

Control of the city, which the Russian media call “the gateway to Donetsk”, would allow Moscow to severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines along the eastern front and boost its campaign to capture Chasiv Yar, which sits on higher ground offering potential control of a wider area.

Squeezing the Ukrainian military’s access to the road network in the vicinity would make it harder for Kyiv’s troops to hold pockets of territory either side of Pokrovsk, which could allow Russia to consolidate and advance the frontline.

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 06:11

Ukraine’s scooter bomb assassination could change the war… but not for the reasons you might thinkTom Watling18 December 2024 06:00

Photos: Winter snow freezes war frontline in Ukraine

A Ukrainian armoured military vehicle drives along a road during snowfall in eastern Donetsk (Getty Images)

A Ukrainian tank crew member stands on a Leopard 1A5 tank at a frontline position near Pokrovsk (Getty Images)

A Ukrainian tank crew member smokes a cigarette next to a Leopard 1A5 tank (Getty Images)

A Ukrainian tank crew member takes a break in fighting near Pokrovsk (Getty Images)Arpan Rai18 December 2024 05:53

Putin’s troops intensify assaults in Kursk and eastern frontMoscow has intensified its attacks on Ukrainian forces battling to hold an enclave in Russia’s Kursk region and increased pressure in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s top army commander said in an evening update yesterday.

“For the third day the enemy is conducting intensive assaults in the Kursk region,” Oleksandr Syrskyi told government and regional officials in an online speech. He added that Russia was “actively” using North Korean troops who were taking significant losses.

Mr Syrskyi said fighting was also escalating in the eastern Donetsk region where Russian forces were advancing at their fastest pace this year.

He told government and regional officials that Russian troops continued to focus their assaults on the logistical centres of Pokrovsk and Kurakhove.

A US military official said North Korean troops had suffered several hundred casualties in Kursk region, and their ranks had ranged from lower-level troops to “very near the top”.

As the war approaches its third year, Ukrainian troops are weary and outnumbered along the 1,170km (727 mile) frontline.

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 05:31

The one battle President Zelensky looks set to winNot so very long ago, Vladimir Putin, the would-be reincarnation of Joseph Stalin, had some cause for satisfaction. True, his ill-fated “special military operation” in Ukraine had spectacularly failed in its initial stated aim of subsuming the country into a Greater Russia, resistance supposedly crumbling in days, with Volodymyr Zelensky skulking off into exile.

The Ukrainians are continuing their resistance and, for now, have been able to disrupt Russian bombing raids with longer-range Western missiles. They’ve also carried out the audacious assassination, close to the Kremlin, of the Russian general in charge of chemical weapons. Footage released by Kyiv purports to show bewildered North Korean soldiers cowering in surrender (and has not been challenged).

A couple of elderly Russian oil tankers have broken up in the Black Sea; and the fall of Bashar al-Assad has fractured Russian power in the Middle East, weakening Iran with it and jeopardising important military and naval bases in Syria. No longer can Iran freely traverse Syria to arm terrorists, and the ayatollahs look increasingly weak and isolated in the face of Israeli attacks and their own feeble attempts to penetrate Benjamin Netanyahu’s defensive Iron Dome. Russia is on the back foot.

Read more in The Independent View:

The one battle President Zelensky looks set to winFor all of Russia’s recent setbacks, it is increasingly unlikely Ukraine will be able to push back invading forces to the border positions when hostilities first broke out – but it may yet force Vladimir Putin into a negotiated peace that would ensure greater security for Europe

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 05:20

Ukraine uncovers 12 agents spying for Russia on F-16s, air defencesUkraine’s SBU security service said it has uncovered 12 agents spying for Russia on locations hosting F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems across Ukraine.

It said it detained “the biggest network of agents” in Ukraine’s north and south.

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 05:15

Zelensky says foreign peacekeepers idea could be raised todayThe possible deployment of foreign peacekeeping troops in Ukraine could be raised at a meeting of European leaders in Brussels today, Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The meeting to discuss support for Ukraine, almost three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, will gather the leaders of Germany, France, Poland and Nato, among others, according to sources.

The Ukrainian leader publicly floated the idea of foreign troops being deployed until Ukraine could join Nato during a meeting with a German politician earlier this month.

The possibility was first raised by French president Emmanuel Macron in February but no consensus was reached among European leaders on the matter.

Answering questions from reporters about it potentially being discussed in Brussels, Zelenskiy said that “everyone who will be there has the right to raise this or that issue”. “There could be questions not only about the (foreign) contingent, but also questions that Ukraine will raise,” he told a joint press conference with Polish prime minister Donald Tusk in Lviv.

Arpan Rai18 December 2024 05:04

Behind enemy lines: Ukraine’s deadly assassins have terrorised Russia with nuclear general their latest victimTom Watling18 December 2024 05:00

Trump’s Ukraine envoy plans January trip to KyivPresident-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Ukraine envoy will travel to Kyiv and several other European capitals in early January, sources said.

Retired lieutenant-general Keith Kellogg, who is set to serve as Mr Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, is not planning to visit Moscow during this trip, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private matters.

The incoming Trump administration is aiming to bring a swift end to the Russia-Ukraine war, according to two sources with knowledge of the trip’s planning.

Mr Kellogg will visit senior leaders in Kyiv, and his team is working to set up meetings with leaders in other European capitals, such as Rome and Paris, said the sources.

Planning for the trip is still being finalied and the itinerary could change, one of the sources warned.

Keith Kellogg speaks during a press briefing in White House (AFP via Getty Images)Arpan Rai18 December 2024 04:29